Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 257269

www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Measurements of the slow drift dynamics of a model

Pelamis wave energy converter
Chris Retzler
Ocean Power Delivery Ltd, Edinburgh, UK
Available online 18 October 2005

Abstract
The Pelamis wave energy converter (WEC) is moored with a clump-assisted wire catenary of high
compliance that, coupled with the displacement mass of Pelamis, has a resonant frequency an order of
magnitude lower than the wave frequencies. The mooring is thus decoupled from first-order wave
excitation, and is excited by second-order slowly varying drift forces, which are mainly due to the wave
momentum transferred to the device as wave power is absorbed. The slow drift motion is damped by a
combination of drag and wave-drift damping. This paper describes an experimental investigation of the
slow-drift excitation and damping.
q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Pelamis; Wave energy converter; Wave-drift damping

1. Introduction

The Pelamis WEC [12] is a slender semi-submerged articulated cylinder with a compliant
spread mooring system that allows the device to weathervane to the wave direction. It is
designed for offshore, where the wave climate is an order of magnitude more powerful than at
the shoreline and there is room to build large arrays of machines (Fig. 1).
The deep water location requires that the device incorporates a suitable reaction reference;
Pelamis achieves this by utilizing the phase difference of buoyancy forces along its length,
which is chosen to be comparable to the wavelengths for which maximum capture efficiency is
desired. It is thus substantially spatially tuned, i.e. sensitive primarily to the wavelength rather
than wave frequency. Flexibility and power take-off at the joints are controlled by hydraulic
rams that pump high-pressure fluid into smoothing accumulators that in turn drive electrical
generators.
The Pelamis efficiency can be increased by frequency tuning, achieved by ballasting the
device with a bias angle in roll, inclining the pitch and yaw axes of each segment to the water
surface, which couples buoyancy spring to the yaw mass. If the pitch damping is increased,

0960-1481/$ - see front matter q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.renene.2005.08.025
258 C. Retzler / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 257269

Fig. 1. A wave farm of Pelamis wave energy converters.

the pitch motion will decrease relative to the incident wave: this increases the buoyancy
excitation of the yaw resonance, and increases the total power absorbed.
This differential control of the joints in pitch and yaw can therefore provide more response to
improve capture efficiency in small waves, or less response to keep motions and loads
manageable in storms. The device fails safe: if damping is lost the device simply flexes in pitch
and contours on the waves. A full-scale prototype Pelamis WEC, 120 m long and 3.5 m
diameter, has been constructed and undergone sea trials. It has been placed on station at the
European Marine Energy Centre, Orkney, UK, and has successfully fed electrical power into the
local grid.
Pelamis is a rather unusual marine structure: it is slender like a shipbut flexible; it is
moored like an offshore platformbut, though far smaller, is exposed to large drift forces as a
consequence of its power absorption. Because of the self-referencing no rigid connection to the
sea-bed is required and a slack mooring is sufficient to hold the device on station. The high
compliance of the mooring coupled with the displacement mass of Pelamis results in a resonant
frequency an order of magnitude lower than the wave frequencies. The mooring is thus largely
decoupled from first-order wave excitation, and is mostly excited by second-order slowly
varying drift forces.

2. Experimentation and analysis

This present paper concerns tests with a 20th scale model with electrically-powered
motorised joints that can provide programmable impedance to motion and thus, replicate the
dynamics and control of the full-scale prototype. The joint moments, angles and angular
velocities were measured, together with the mooring force, and the incident wave at the device
nose. The surge displacement was measured by video tracking. The total power output of the
machine was determined by summing the individual joint powers (joint moment times angular
velocity). Full-scale quantities are used throughout the text. The mooring was a clump-assisted
catenary, with a maximum horizontal extension of 36 m in a water depth of 42 m. Its restoring
force is approximately linear with extension, but rises sharply towards the end of its range.
 C. Retzler / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 257269 259

x 105 Power and mooring force versus time, 0.14Hz regular wave
2.5
total power
mooring force
2

1.5

0.5

0.5
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
time (s)

Fig. 2. Total absorbed power (watts) and mooring force (newtons) versus time in a 0.14 Hz regular wave.

We make the simplification of neglecting the dynamics due to the mooring line drag and clump
mass, since these are small compared with the mass and drag of the floating body, so the mooring
line is treated simply as a linear spring. And because Pelamis weathervanes to head into the
prevailing sea, we neglect the yaw and sway motion and make the simplification of measuring
the surge mooring response to unidirectional waves along the long axis. Figs. 2 and 3 below
graph the model response in the same 0.14 Hz regular wave, as it starts from still water and rises
to steady amplitude, and show the development of the wave-drift force. Fig. 2 shows the
measured mooring force and absorbed power. Fig. 3 shows the wave amplitude envelope,

Surge and wave envelope, 0.14Hz wave

6
surge
wave envelope
5

3
(m)

1
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
time (s)

Fig. 3. Device surge motion (metres) and wave amplitude envelope (metres) versus time in a 0.14 Hz regular wave.
260 C. Retzler / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 257269

calculated via the Hilbert transform, and the surge displacement with its damped resonant
response.

3. Power absorption and drift forces

For a body exposed to an incident wave of amplitude AI, from conservation of energy the drift
force on the body per metre of wave-front in infinite water depth can be described in terms of the
incident, reflected and transmitted wave amplitudes by
rg
2 
Fd Z AI C AR 2 KAT 2 (1)
4
Eq. (1) reduces to Eq. (2), Maruos formula, ([1]) when the wave is fully reflected, and to Eq. (3)
for a fully absorbed wave.
rg
FR Z AI 2 (2)
2
rg 2
FA Z A (3)
4 I
The power per metre of wavefront is given by
rg
P Z AI 2 c (4)
4
where c is the wave celerity,
u
cZ (5)
k
and k is the wave number given by the dispersion relation
u2 Z gk tanh kh (6)
Following [2],Eqs. (1)(4) can be generalised to finite water depth h by multiplying the right
hand sides by 1C sinh2kh2kh . We then have.
 
rg 2 2kh
FA Z AI 1 C (3b)
4 sinh 2kh
 
rg 2 2kh
PZ AI c 1 C (4b)
4 sinh 2kh
So we can write the drift force due to power absorption as
P
FA Z (7)
c
Note that Eqs. (3b), (4b) and (7) assume the condition of zero forward velocity.
It is customary to define a power capture width for WECs, i.e. an equivalent width of wave-
front from which all the wave power is absorbed, which is given by the mean power absorbed by
the device divided by the mean power per metre of the incident wave from Eq. (4b). The means
are calculated over a length of the record sufficient to remove the unsteadiness in the power and
the wave envelope, perceptible for example in Figs. 2 and 3. A force capture width can be
 C. Retzler / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 257269 261

Force and power capture widths versus wave frequency

14
force
power
12

Capture width, m 10

0
0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
Frequency, Hz

Fig. 4. Pelamis force and power capture widths (metres) versus frequency (hertz).

similarly defined by dividing the mean mooring force by the mean wave momentum force given
by Eq. (3b). This will at least equal the power capture width since it includes the momentum
absorbed due to power plus any momentum due to wave reflection, together with terms not
included in the above equations, e.g. viscous forces. These capture widths can be plotted against
frequency, and Fig. 4 shows a typical plot for Pelamis (the shape and scale of the curves changes
with joint control settings). The fact that the curves are almost coincident over much of the range
demonstrates that virtually all of the force on Pelamis is due to the absorbed power except at the
very highest frequencies and confirms Eq. (7). The peak capture width is about four times larger
than Pelamis beamthe drift forces will therefore be much higher than for a non power-
absorbing vessel of comparable dimensions. It should be noted that the large changes in capture
width with frequency are mainly due to the concomitant changes in wavelength. Fig. 5 shows
how the force capture width varies with wave steepness at two frequencies: at the higher
frequency it hardly varies, but at 0.14 Hz it shows a sharp decline with increasing wave
steepness, because the model undergoes dynamic submergence as the nose pierces the wave
crests, thus limiting the buoyancy force.

4. Surge and damping

The mooring dynamics were quantified by displacing the model then releasing it, firstly in
still water, then in waves over a range of frequencies. Fig. 6 shows the surge response in still
water, and the equivalent in a 0.14 Hz wave of steepness (height/wavelength) of 0.02. Both
curves show the characteristic damped decay of a resonant system, the decay being more rapid in
waves.
We utilise the still water decay curve to determine the dynamics and hence the damping due
to drag. Dividing the mooring force by the displacement, in a least-squares sense over the whole
record, yields a mean spring rate. The surge velocity and acceleration are obtained by
differentiating the displacement and, using the known mass and added mass of the floating body,
the equation of motion is solved to yield total drag force D in terms of the linear and quadratic
262 C. Retzler / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 257269

Force and power capture widths versus wave steepness,

two frequencies
14
0.140Hz, force
0.140Hz, power
12
0.196Hz, force
0.196Hz, power
10
Capture width,m

0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08
Steepness, H/L

Fig. 5. Pelamis force and power capture widths (metres) versus wave steepness, in regular waves of increasing amplitude,
at two frequencies.

drag coefficients C1 and C2 and the body velocity U.

D Z C1 U C C2 U jU j (8)

In still water C1 was 7850 Ns/m and C2 was 11650 N/(m/s)2.

Because the model contains a large number of trailing power and signal cables (10 connect to
each joint), with an effective cross-sectional area that is difficult to specify exactly, the constants
C1 and C2 have not been non-dimensionalized as is usual practice. The value of quadratic drag
coefficient calculated for the body of Pelamis, following [3], is only about 2000 N/(m/s)2,
Release tests instill water and in a 0.14Hz wave
10
still water
8 wave
6
surge displacement, m

4
2
0
2
4
6
8
10
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
time, s

Fig. 6. Release tests in still water and a regular wave, surge displacement (metres) versus time (seconds).
 C. Retzler / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 257269 263

comprising equal contributions from skin and form drag. The large discrepancy is probably due
to these cables. By contrast, the full-scale prototype has a single umbilical with far lower drag.
In the presence of waves, the slow surge motion coexists with the instantaneous wave-
induced fluid velocity in the surge direction, ux, which has amplitude uA. The drag over a
complete wave period is
D Z C1 U C ux C C2 U C ux jU C ux j (9)
where the overbar indicates the mean over a wave cycle. The linear term reduces to C1U as
before, but the quadratic term also tends to a linear limit for small U, i.e. to
4
C UuA when U / uA (10)
p 2

4.1. Wave-drift damping

[4] first reported test findings of damping on vessels in waves additional to the effects of skin
and form drag. When a body that reflects waves has forward velocity then the wave-drift force
Eq. (1) modifies to include a linear damping term, B(u), the wave-drift damping. [5] suggested
an approximation, referred to as the drift force gradient method, equating the wave-drift
damping to the wavenumber times the drift force derivative with respect to radial frequency. [6],
taking an heuristic approach, modified this formula with the addition of a second term
proportional to the drift force Fd itself.
vF u2 vFd u
Bu ZK d Z C 4 Fd in deep water (11)
vU g vu g
Eq. (11) has since been formally derived by [7] for the two-dimensional case.
[8] compare results from Eq. (11) with model test data, finding excellent agreement for a
tanker, but less agreement for low-draft, sharp-edged barges.
The body of Pelamis is relatively streamlined and has deep draft, comparable more to a tanker
than to a barge. The motion is, moreover, substantially two-dimensional in the unidirectional
head-on seas considered here. It is also important to note that Eq. (11) was formulated and
derived for wave reflection only, not wave absorption; to the authors knowledge, the literature
does not treat how the power absorption Eq. (4b) might be modified in the presence of forward
velocity. Finally, because Pelamis is tuned predominantly spatially rather than by frequency, the
variation of drift force with frequency is likely to be small, reducing the contribution of the first
term in Eq. (11).
The decay of displacement for the release tests in waves can now be best-fitted and the
contribution of wave-drift damping estimated. The value of uA used for ux in equation Eq. (9) is
an average over a representative depth of immersion of the model, taken here as 5 m. C1 and C2
cannot now both be used as independent variables in the fitting process: they are no longer
orthogonal because the quadratic term tends to linearize in the presence of waves. But, if the
quadratic contribution is constrained to remain constant at its still-water value the linear
damping alone can be varied until the fit is optimal. (Fig. 7) shows these optimal fits to the
measured displacements in the release tests at the five wave frequencies; the fit to the still water
decay is shown for comparison.
The wave-drift damping is estimated from these best-fit values of C1 in waves by subtracting
the still-water value of C1. Fig. 8 shows these estimates as points for the five frequencies.
264 C. Retzler / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 257269

0.084 Hz 0.11Hz 0.14Hz

6 10 6
4 4
2 5 2
0 0
0
2 2
4 4
5
6 6
8 10 8
10 10
12 15 12
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300

0.17Hz 0.2 Hz still water

6 6 6
4 4 4
2 2
2
0 0
0
2 2
2
4 4
6 4
6
8 6 8
10 8 10
0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300

Fig. 7. Numerical fits to measured displacements in release tests in still water, and in waves of steepness H/LZ0.02 at 5
frequencies.

wave drift damping versus frequency, measurements and

predictions
5000
predicted (equation 12)
best-fitmeasurements
4000

3000
damping,Ns/m

2000

1000

1000
0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
frequency, Hz

Fig. 8. Best-fit measurements of wave-drift damping in waves of steepness H/LZ0.02 at 5 frequencies, compared with
predictions via equation Eq. (12).
 C. Retzler / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 257269 265

Comparison of measured and predicted wave drift damping

versus frequency
4500
predicted (equation 12)
4000 measured (equation 13)

3500

3000
damping, Ns/m

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
frequency, Hz

Fig. 9. Comparison of estimates of wave-drift damping obtained via Eqs. (12) and (13).

For comparison, a damping curve corresponding to half the value of the second term alone in
Eq. (11) is shown, i.e.
u
B u Z 2 F (12)
g A
where FA is given from Eq. (7) from the measured power. There is an interesting correspondence
of the estimated damping points with this curve. The agreement is poor at the extremes where the
wave-drift damping is small and particularly vulnerable to errors in C1 and C2, but is good over
the central region. The agreement is not notably improved by the inclusion of damping
proportional to the gradient term in Eq. (11), and as previously indicated this is probably a
consequence of Pelamis spatial tuning and relative insensitivity to frequency. This close
agreement to exactly half the second term in Eq. (11) suggests a physical difference between the
reflection and absorption of waves by a moving body with respect to their contribution to wave-
drift damping. As is clear from Eq. (1) an absorbed wave contributes half the wave-drift force of
an identical reflected wave; and, as suggested by the data here, it contributes one quarter of the
wave-drift damping.
The wave-drift damping can also be estimated by using Eq. (7) to derive a time-varying force
from the absorbed power and dividing this, in the least-squares sense, by the surge velocity. This
gives values almost exactly half those due to Eq. (12). This is turn suggests an empirical
modification of Eq. (7) to include the effects of forward motion and to restore the damping to the
levels that provide best-fits for the decay curves in the release tests. i.e.
P ue
FA Z (13)
c u
where the drift force FA now includes the damping force and the encounter frequency ue is
given by
266 C. Retzler / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 257269

Dimensionless damping versus dimensionless frequency

6

4
Bn

0
1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
n
p q
B L=g
Fig. 10. Dimensionless wave-drift damping Bn Z rA2 D
versus dimensionless frequency un Z u Lg , experimentally
measured values in waves of steepness H/LZ0.02.

c C U
ue Z u (14)
c
Fig. 9 shows estimates of wave-drift damping obtained from Eq. (13) versus Eq. (12).
In Fig. 10 the wave-drift damping due to power absorption is plotted against frequency, each
axis is non-dimensionalized (indicated by subscript n) as in [9].
s
L
un Z u (15)
g
p
B L=g
Bn Z where L Z body length and D Z diameter: (16)
rA2 D
The peak damping is about 5.5 at a frequency of about 3.0. The graph may be compared with that
of [9], page 162, in which experiments due to [10,11] are plotted for two different ships and show
damping peaks of around 510, at a frequency of about 3.5. The wave-drift damping due to
Pelamis power absorption is thus comparable to that for ships due to wave reflection. This
coincidence arises because although Pelamis is specifically designed to absorb power and has a
capture width about four times its beam, the momentum force due to an absorbed wave is half
that of a reflected wave and further, the experimentally derived wave-drift damping is very
closely fits half that suggested by the accepted formula Eq. (11) for reflection wave-drift
damping.

4.2. Irregular waves

We can apply these results for the steady drift excitation in regular waves to the case of
irregular waves, in which there is fluctuating power and an unsteady drift force. We make the
low-frequency approximation, namely, that the mean force can be used to predict the slowly
 C. Retzler / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 257269 267

Te 6.7s, Hs 2.6m
20
measured
calculated

15

10
surge, m

5
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
time, s

Fig. 11. Slow surge drift in irregular wave of Te 6.7 s, Hs 2.6 m.

varying response. The mean power over the local wave encounter period, is used with Eq. (13) to
derive the fluctuating force, which includes the effect of wave-drift damping. This excitation is
used to synthesise the displacement, given the known body mass, mooring spring, and the
damping due to drag from Eq. (9) using the still-water values of C1 and C2.
Figs. 1114 show the measured surge response of the model in irregular seas of varying
energy period Te and significant wave height Hs, together with the predicted motion. In each
case, the same values of mass, spring and damping coefficients were used. Note that the
displacement was occasionally beyond the range of the video tracking: the measurements
saturate at 13.8 m for the largest surge motion. The measured and calculated drift show good
agreement that improves further in the larger seas.
Te 7.2s, Hs 3.4m
20
measured
calculated

15

10
surge, m

5
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
time, s

Fig. 12. Slow surge drift in irregular wave of Te 7.2 s, Hs 3.4 m.

268 C. Retzler / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 257269

Te 7.5s, Hs 4.6m
20
measured
calculated

15

10
surge, m

5
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
time, s

Fig. 13. Slow surge drift in irregular wave of Te 7.5 s, Hs 4.6 m.

The effect of the unwanted cable drag can be assessed by excluding it from the numerical
model and including only the wave-drift damping and the estimated drag of the Pelamis body. It
transpires that surge motion is relatively insensitive to damping: the maximum excursion in the
smallest sea (for which wave-drift damping is relatively low) rises by just 50%and only by 15%
in for the largest sea. The mean drift is of course unaffected.
Pelamis has been designed to accommodate these excursions due to second-order slow drift,
in combination with the first-order wave-induced excursion in the presence of extreme waves.
Commercial deployments of Pelamis may well be farther offshore in greater water depths where
wave powers and extreme waves are larger and the mooring excitation greater; but in deeper

Te 7.9s, Hs 5.0m
20
measured
calculated

15

10
surge, m

5
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
time, s

Fig. 14. Slow surge drift in irregular wave of Te 7.9 s, Hs 5.0 m.

 C. Retzler / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 257269 269

water a longer mooring with greater range is possible, which more than compensates for the
increased mooring motion.

5. Conclusions

1. The slow drift motion of Pelamis is a result of the low-frequency damped resonant response
of the mooring to the second-order slow drift forces, which are predominantly due to wave
power absorption, with a small contribution from reflection at higher frequencies.
2. Because Pelamis is designed to absorb wave power it is subject to drift forces considerably
larger than for a non power-absorbing vessel of similar dimensions.
3. The slow drift damping combines damping due to drag on the body with wave-drift damping
due to the variation of power absorption with drift velocity.
4. There appears to be only a small contribution to wave-drift damping from the variation with
frequency of the wave-drift force the so-called gradient term. This is probably a
consequence of Pelamis spatial tuning and relative insensitivity to frequency changes
independent of wavelength.
5. Wave-drift force due to wave absorption appears to contribute just half the wave-drift
damping that an equal wave-drift force due to wave reflection contributes.
6. An empirical model utilizing the absorbed wave power, known body and mooring dynamic
parameters and still water measured drag coefficients, closely fits the measured mooring
response. This model can be used to estimate the slow-drift response of a full-scale Pelamis.

Acknowledgements

The Pelamis 20th scale model was provided by Ocean Power Delivery Ltd, and the
experimental work was supported by the UK DTI and EPSRC.

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